December 15th .....

I think my last comment before I took a break from writing was that we had no plans and would wait to see what unfolded. The short answer to what unfolded is ‘not much’.

It’s been four weeks now since Marilyn’s operation and she is recovering very well. She had optimistically allowed herself five weeks for recovery before we head off to Mudgee and she is well on track to be ready for that. Of course, she has the right attitude and that makes all the difference.

We’ve found the caravan a particularly good place for Marilyn to recuperate. Everything is within easy reach: the shower and toilet is just a few steps away as is the kitchen. It’s great, also, to be free to move around from town to town if we feel like it. We’re in Latrobe at the moment, free-camping. The caravan is pretty self-contained and the solar panel on the roof gives us regular 12v power for the water pump, TV, and so on. We do miss the microwave which can only be used when we have access to 240v but that’s a small price to pay for the independence.

I had an appointment with the radiation oncologist who supervised my treatment for prostate cancer. A blood test showed that my PSA count is too low to measure so that’s the best news I could wish for. We can now put that behind us and get on with life.

There has been one little sad moment recently. I carelessly dropped my Bebook which I use for my electronic book collection. I think I’ve had it for more than 3 years and it’s already had a new screen following a crash on to concrete and a replacement mother board and battery. I won’t bother having it repaired again. New models have many more features and they have become much more sophisticated so I’ve ordered a new Sony with a touch screen and in-built dictionaries. It’s more elegant than the bebook and I hope will last me for many years – if I can avoid dropping it.

I was asked to talk to my Rotary club last night about our recent trip to the Philippines. It was a good chance to re-visit some of the interesting times we had. I focused on the parts of the trip which related to our club’s involvement in projects there and said a little about possible future projects. Of course, I could have talked for hours about the beautiful new places we saw and people we met but if you talk for more than half an hour, the members get very toe-ey. Is that how you spell it?

We’re heading back to Launceston tomorrow for a Christmas party on Friday night and to get organized for our trip to Mudgee on Tuesday. There probably won’t be much to report until the middle of next week